Just a Child
by BlackFox12
Summary: Ivy is The Archive, but she’s also a child – and that child makes bad decisions sometimes. One-shot


**Just a Child**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from The Dresden Files and I'm not making any money from this fic

**Summary:** Ivy is The Archive, but she's also a child – and that child makes bad decisions sometimes

**Warning(s):** Contains spanking of a child; spoilers up to and including the book _Small Favour_

**Characters:** Harry; Ivy/Archive

* * *

When Harry woke up the next morning, one of the first things he became aware of was a headache centred right in the middle of his forehead. Groaning a little, he put a hand to his temple. Had he had too much to drink last night? More to the point... Shouldn't wizards be immune to hangovers? There were few enough perks to the job as it was.

Sitting up slightly, Harry smiled as he remembered last night with Anastasia. It had been entirely too long since he'd been with a woman, and the fact that she'd been born in a different time and country had definitely made things a lot more interesting.

And that was interesting in a good way; interesting in a bad way happened way too often to be truly healthy.

Harry had a vague memory of Anastasia telling him that she had some things to take care of before she'd headed off. Even though the woman had technically resigned from her position as captain, she still had a lot of work to do. Harry was very glad he wasn't in the same situation.

Thinking that it was very nice to be able to sleep in without having to worry about getting killed by the latest supernatural creature, Harry started to roll over and go back to sleep. Before he could relax completely, though, there was a knock on the door; and he sat up, trying to work out who – out of those living in his apartment right now – would be likely to knock on the door instead of just barge in.

It probably wouldn't be Thomas. His brother was more likely to barge in without knocking. Besides, given the war between vampires and the White Council, Thomas wasn't likely to come in when it was possible Anastasia was still there.

Shaking his head slightly to clear it, Harry got up and walked over to open the door. When he did so, he was surprised to see Ivy standing just outside the door. "Hey, I thought you would have left already." Of course, given exactly what had happened – and the fact that he cared about the child who knew too much – maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised that Ivy wouldn't want to leave without saying goodbye.

"We're not leaving yet." Ivy stepped into the room, glancing around as if she were assessing the place. She then looked up at Harry, who noticed that she was looking much better after her imprisonment. "I wanted to say thank you." There were no outward signs of the trauma she had gone through.

But Harry knew that the scars never really disappeared. He smiled at Ivy. "For coming after you? The only reason you got grabbed at all was because you tried to save me." Even if she'd been grabbed for some other reason, Harry would still have done everything he could to find and rescue her. It wasn't in him to leave _anyone_ – especially not a child – to those monsters.

"Yes, well that is partly what I wanted to talk to you about." Ivy shuffled her feet slightly, looking her age for once. "You know that I have the knowledge of everything that has been written down, correct?"

Harry nodded slightly, not quite sure what she was getting at. "I sent you a message that way."

"There have been a number of books written on the correct way to discipline children," Ivy explained. "One way that seems to be most effective is the idea of – um – spanking. It's something that some parents use instead of – or sometimes as well as – other punishments like groundings or time-out."

And yet Ivy's mother had killed herself shortly after becoming the Archive... Who knew what had happened to her father? "What are you getting at?" Harry asked carefully – though he thought he could probably guess.

"You and Kincaid are the only ones who care about me as a child, not just as the Archive." Ivy's words were blunt; made more heartrending by the fact that they were true.

Anastasia had tried warning Harry not to get too close to the Archive...

"And I can't ask Kincaid to treat me like a normal child and punish me when I do things wrong," Ivy continued. She looked up at Harry, her eyes pleading with him in a way that the Archive had never done before. "I need... you're the closest thing to a friend I have." She shrugged, her face mostly expressionless – as if she was expecting him to say no; to reject her like so many had.

"You want me... to spank you when you make bad choices or whatever?" Harry was pretty sure that was what she meant, but he just wanted to clarify. "How do I know you won't perceive it as an attack and defend yourself against it?"

"I'll limit myself." Ivy took a slightly hesitant step towards him.

"Okay." The word slipped out without any conscious thought. However, Harry knew there was no way he could refuse her. He knew what it was like to be alone and have other people treat him like some kind of monster. If Ivy really needed this – and wanted it – he wasn't about to refuse her.

Even though he wasn't sure how much it would help her.

"Thank you." Ivy turned towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" The question was out before Harry could stop himself. When Ivy turned to look at him, he carried on talking. "You want me to punish you when you do bad things, or make wrong decisions? Fine; but I think that putting yourself in danger to protect me was an incredibly stupid thing to do."

Ivy frowned. "I didn't think we should count that."

"If you want me to punish you, that means you have no control over it. You can't dictate when a spanking is given; it's up to the parent." As he spoke, Harry sat down on the edge of the bed and held his hand out to Ivy. "Come over here. If I have to get you, it'll be worse," he warned when Ivy hesitated.

Slowly, Ivy walked over to Harry's side. When she got there, Harry circled his fingers around her wrist and tugged her forward, positioning her over his lap. He lifted the edge of her dress and folded it over onto her back, then pulled her knickers down to just below her knees. He hesitated briefly, then lifted his hand and brought it down with medium force on her right cheek.

Ivy jerked, and whimpered a little. When Harry smacked her again, she reacted like a scalded cat might and tried to squirm away off his lap. Harry simply looped his arm around her waist to hold her still, and resumed swatting.

"Oww." After a few more hard smacks, Ivy put her hand back to try and shield her bottom. Harry simply pinned her hand to the small of her back, and continued spanking her.

It didn't take long for Ivy to break down completely, and start crying like a much younger child. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

When he heard her crying without pausing, Harry landed one much harder smack and then let go of her hand to lightly rub her back. "It's all right, Ivy. It's over now." He was unprepared for the child to wrap her arms around his neck and hug him almost too tight to be able to breathe. "Hey..." He patted her back.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I love you."

"I love you too." Harry swallowed, feeling tears prick at his eyes.

**The End**


End file.
